Horses with equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) are at a higher risk for laminitis than the average horse, but veterinarians are learning more about diagnosing EMS early and minimizing its effects, including laminitis. At the Sept. 17-18 Laminitis West Conference in Monterey, Calif., Thomas J. Divers, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, Dipl. ACVECC, professor and Chief of Large Animal Medicine at Cornell University, spoke about the correlation between EMS and laminitis and discussed the management of these cases.

Genetics, diet, and exercise are the three major factors that can best determine an animal's risk for EMS. Those that develop EMS are usually five to 15 years old, obese, and easy keepers (horses and ponies that maintain or gain weight on a minimum amount of food), often with a cresty neck. Divers said that the fat in the middle of the neck might contain inflammatory mediators, which could lead to insulin resistance (a feature of EMS in which the body doesn't respond properly to the hormone insulin, which is also a feature of diabetes in humans). However, he also said it is not yet known which comes first, the obesity or the insulin resistance.

Divers noted that EMS is more common in breeds that once thrived in harsh conditions. These include ponies, donkeys, domesticated mustangs, Morgans, Norwegian Fjords, Paso Finos, Peruvian Pasos, Arabians, Warmbloods, American Saddlebreds, Andalusians, Tennessee Walking Horses, and Quarter Horses.

While researchers don't yet know why EMS horses develop laminitis, they have several theories